Katie Slagle
Zucman
Art 110
03 May 2020
Artist Conversation
Kiyomi Fukui is a graduate student with a MFA in printmaking at California State University Long Beach and a BFA in Graphic Design from La Sierra University. She also does fiber arts like tatting and crocheting. Fukui’s bio states that she “attempt[s] to capture transient intimacy, irrespective of media” with her art.
In Kiyomi Fukui art she regularly uses things that are natural such as plants, seeds, and leaves. A lot of her projects are very interactive and often allow people to express their individuality. As Kiyomi’s projects are interactive they are usually on a larger scale with her “Green Thumb” project starting small and becoming big as peoples thumb plants began to grow and as people took them back home. She seems to have a theme of using nature and paper products. She typically uses white for a majority of her projects while mixing in live green plants for a pop of color giving the scene a clean but natural vibe.
The question I was thinking was “what are your favorite projects or works?”. Fukui said she really likes her “Green Thumb” project because it helped her coup with her mother’s passing from cancer, however her favorite since piece of art that she made was called “I Was There” and it is a print she made of a bird that as dying after her roomate’s cat attacked it and brought it back as a “gift”. Kiyomi explained that she decided to do a print of the dying bird so that she could be there with the bird in its final moments and to appreciate the bird.
I enjoyed Kiyomi Fukui’s work as it was very simple to the eye but behind that simplicity had such a deep meaning that can really make you think and reflect about yourself. My favorite project that I wish I could have been a part of is “Tea at 3307” because it seemed like such a good way to bond with people. I also liked that the project really had no right or wrong as a person could make tea however they like and paint the paper in whatever way feels right to them, making each paper is completely unique from the last.
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